Being loved is wonderful. I trust you have experienced the love of family and friends. Sadly, some people have grown up without the sense of being loved by anyone.
Those who are loving are often cherished and appreciated, for the kindness and care they show and the way they make us feel. You may have had a special relative who was a favourite, for showing you that kind of care.
We are ‘love receptors’, tuned in to look for love and affection. We are nourished by receiving love, and we tend to shrivel on the inside when we have to live without it.
Since we were designed to be in constant and open fellowship with God, as His children, and God is the purest love, it only makes sense that we were designed to receive and respond to love. That’s why I say we are ‘love receptors’.
That makes us vulnerable in a couple of ways. We can be very sensitive to the denial of love, or rejection. If we are abandoned, abused, neglected or despised we received deep scars in our heart. We can try to throw that off and pretend it doesn’t hurt, but we are not designed that way. So some people become cold and hard, to try to cope with the lack of love in their life.
Others go looking for any kind of love they can get, from fame and applause, to cheap relationships where they are used and abused. Our search for love and acceptance can take us into a number of unhappy paths.
Another weakness we have is that we can find some source of what seems like love, such as care we receive from someone who also hurts and abuses us, and then stick to that connection despite its bad qualities. We talk of a love-hate relationship and co-dependancy to describe those situations. We can console ourselves that, although things aren’t as we would like them, at least we have some stability or care or respect in society, or whatever.
With that as the landscape, let’s consider the place of God in our lives. God is the purest and highest form of love.
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1John 4:7,8
“We have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” 1John 4:16
You are designed to be in sweet relationship with the greatest source of love. That relationship nourishes you and completes you like no other relationship can. It is the fulfilment of your very design.
You may be trying to find love in relationships with people, spouse, children, friends and so on. While the love of family and friends is delightful, it is only a shadow of the greatest love you can enjoy.
Consider this analogy. A car may operate on inferior fuel, such as kerosine. The motor may be able to start and the car may be able to get moving, but it will run as if it is sick. There will be low power and the engine may overheat or otherwise run poorly, due to the inferior fuel.
So you can operate on inferior love, but you will underperform, overheat, be sluggish, and maybe damage your motor, so to speak.
Speaking of damage, consider those who have been through abusive relationships, or been exploited or abandoned by those who should love them. They become damaged and struggle to build good relationships from then on. They may even reject and distrust God who is such a wonderful source of love.
So let me reinforce for you the amazing depth of God’s love for you. Jesus taught that the greatest expression of love was to sacrifice your own life for others.
“No greater love has any man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
Jesus, God’s Son, laid down His life for you.
“This is how God’s love was revealed to us: God sent his one and only Son into the world, so we might live through him.” 1John 4:9
The greatest testimony to God’s love is that of Jesus dying on the cross for you. He didn’t deserve to die, so He could have walked away. But you deserved to die, so He chose to take your place. That’s love beyond anything you will find among your family and friends. There is No Greater Love!
Let me encourage you to thank God for all those who love you and who care for you in some way or other. Appreciate and be thankful for all the love you receive.
But then make sure you are connected to the greatest love of all. Humble yourself before God and receive the salvation offered you through Christ. Ask God to forgive you of your sins and make you His child. And ask God to pour His love into your heart by the Holy Spirit.
Ask God to heal you of the hurts you have experienced through imperfect love and poor relationships over time. Tell God that you trust Him and ask Him to reveal His love in you. Ask Him to retune your ‘love receptors’ so you can appreciate God and His love. Ask Him to heal your ability to love and be loved by others.
Then celebrate with all those who know God, that you are completed by being a child of the Living God, confident in this about God’s love for you, there is No Greater Love.
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